DP World Tour regular Shubhankar Sharma on his way into a seven-shot third day lead at the Boulders Classic in Hyderabad on Thursday. Image courtesy DP World PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Shubhankar Sharma extended his advantage to a massive seven shots on Moving Day at the inaugural Rs 1 crore Boulders Classic in Hyderabad on Thursday.
The overnight leader returned a course-record equalling 8 under par 64 in round three to total 20 under 196 at the Boulder Hills Golf & Country Club, the DP World PGTI said.
Shubhankar (66-66-64), a two-time DP World Tour winner, matched Honey Baisoya’s record score set on day two with a round that featured nine birdies and one bogey as he took control heading into the event’s final day.
Delhi’s Rashid Khan (67-70-66), Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema (68-69-66), and first-round leader Vishesh Sharma (65-70-68) of Hyderabad shared second place on 13 under 203.
The first two returned matching 6 under 66s, while Vishesh carded a 4 under 68.
A six-time winner on the DP World PGTI, Shubhankar is playing his first domestic event since the Tour Championship in Jamshedpur in December 2021.
Long wait
His last win on the tour came at the McLeod Russel Tour Championship in Kolkata in December 2017.
It has also been an eight-year hiatus since his last title anywhere, which was the Maybank Championship on the DP World Tour in February of 2018.
“I played really solid today — probably hit it the best I have all week,” Sharma said later.
“Everything was clicking, and even when I lost a bit of momentum, I bounced back quickly with birdies.”
He added, “It was nice to be hitting it close consistently. You have to get your yardages and wind reads right here, and I felt I did that well.”
Sharma, 29, also credited his mindset for the consistency over the first three rounds.
“I’ve just been in a happy state of mind and that’s showing on the course,” he said. “The work is always constant — I haven’t done anything special, just stuck to my process and tried to cut out the mistakes.”
Clear plan
Looking ahead to the final round, Shubhankar remained measured despite his commanding lead.
“Even with the lead, the plan is to stay aggressive and stick to the process. I’m just having fun, staying relaxed and doing the same things I’ve done over the last three days.”
That approach was typified on the day’s closing hole, a massive 655-yard par 5 on which Sharma found the green with a 290-plus 3 wood second shot before narrowly missing an eagle putt.
Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu, a former Asian Tour winner and five-time winner on the DP World PGTI, carded his third consecutive 4 under 68 to move into fifth place at 12 under 204.
DP World PGTI Rankings leader Saptak Talwar, had a six-under 66 to total 11 under 205 and tie for sixth, alongside Baisoya, who followed his course-record 64 of Thursday with a 3 under 69.
Mohd Azhar (67-70-69) was the other Hyderabad-based professional in the top-10 as he shared eighth place on 10 under 206.
Yuvraj Sandhu (73-68-73), a pre-tournament favourite, was tied-32nd on 2 under 214.
With a commanding advantage, Sharma will look to maintain his momentum in the final round as he chases a first win after 2018.
Also read: DPWT star Shubhankar Sharma in the van at Boulders Classic
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